On November 15th, a group of Carnegie Mellon students, members of Carnegie Mellon College Progressives (CMCP) supported by members of the University of Pittsburgh’s Student Labor Action Coalition (Pitt SILS), took a decisive step in their campaign for labor justice.
The group delivered a formal letter to President Farnam Jahanian, Vice President Angela Blanton, and Athletics Director Dr. Josh Centor, urging Carnegie Mellon to address severe labor law violations in its supply chain and hold Nike accountable. The letter, signed by over 100 students, highlights wage theft and abuse at the Hong Seng Knitting factory in Thailand, a supplier of Nike apparel.
The letter emphasizes Carnegie Mellon’s commitment to ethical practices as outlined in the university’s Code of Workplace Conduct for Trademark Licensees. It recounts evidence from the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC), which uncovered a scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic where over 3,000 workers were forced into unpaid leave.
Factory management coerced employees, many of whom were Burmese migrants, into signing misleading documents, stripping them of wages they were legally owed. The amount stolen has since grown to $900,000, with accrued interest over four years.
Nike, despite repeated calls to rectify these violations, maintains that workers willingly chose unpaid leave. The authors of the letter argue that this claim contradicts both the WRC’s findings and Carnegie Mellon’s own code, which requires engagement only with brands that ensure fair and socially responsible practices.
Lainie Beauchemin, a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering and founder of Carnegie Mellon Students for International Labor Solidarity (SILS) initiative under CMCP, emphasized that the students’ requests are straightforward: They want the university to adhere to its own licensee code of conduct, which mandates action against partners involved in labor violations.
The urgency and relevance of Carnegie Mellon’s SILS movement is amplified by Carnegie Mellon’s ongoing athletic partnership with Nike.
Announced in Sept. 2021, the five-year agreement made Nike and BSN SPORTS the official apparel and equipment providers for the Tartan Athletics Program, outfitting all of Carnegie Mellon’s 17 men’s and women’s sports teams.
Gathering outside Warner Hall, four Carnegie Mellon students, along with five Pitt SILS members, carried printed copies of the letter to university leadership. On the sixth floor, they handed two to Tricia O’Reilly, President Jahanian’s chief of staff: one addressed to President Jahanian and one to Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer Angela Blanton.
From there, they moved to the Highmark Center for Student-Athlete Success, where a letter was given to a staff member in Dr. Centor’s office. The students also emailed digital copies to ensure their demands were received.
In their letter, the students called upon the administration to take immediate action against Nike and uphold their commitment to both the Carnegie Mellon community and the global community.
Specifically, they demanded that Carnegie Mellon formally inform Nike that they are in violation of the university’s buyer code of ethics and licensee code of conduct, and that Carnegie Mellon will terminate its contract with them unless the situation is remedied. They also requested a record of this communication be provided to the students.
The letter asked the university to provide a comprehensive timeline for contract termination if Nike fails to take sufficient action. The group also asked the administration to arrange a meeting with concerned students to discuss how Carnegie Mellon can leverage its power as a leading institution to protect workers’ rights in its supply chain, implement additional policies and safeguards, and ensure that all future university partnerships align with Carnegie Mellon’s code of ethics and institutional values.
SILS operates on the principle that college students, through their institutions’ massive purchasing power, can drive forward corporate accountability. Their approach involves close collaboration with organizations like the WRC and direct engagement with labor rights advocates.
Beauchemin said that what sets SILS apart is their practical, results-driven approach: Rather than simply raising awareness, they work directly with affected workers and focus on concrete actions to address specific injustices, making their advocacy highly effective and workable. The Hong Seng Knitting case remains central to the campaign. During the pandemic, factory management required workers to take “voluntary” unpaid leave, violating Thai labor law. When workers resisted, management retaliated. The story of Kyaw San Oo, a Burmese migrant worker, is particularly heartbreaking.
After advocating for his stolen wages, Kyaw was reported to the police, forcing him to flee to Myanmar with his wife and infant amid pandemic border closures.
“I think sometimes people’s eyes glaze over when you start talking to them about labor violations in a far-away country and a petition you want them to sign,” Beauchemin said, “but the truth is that enough students at enough universities can actually change a lot of people’s lives immediately.”
Carnegie Mellon students are not alone in their fight. Across the country, universities like The Pennsylvania State University, New York University, and the University of California Los Angeles have seen student-led protests against Nike. Students across the nation have been recently uniting to push their administrations to cut ties with the brand unless it addresses its labor abuses.
Yosef Nelson, a SILS member from the University of Pittsburgh, studying history, noted that University of Pittsburgh students have been pushing for contract termination with Nike for over a year. He expressed excitement about having another SILS chapter so close by, stating that together, they can continue to advocate for workers affected by university partnerships.
Carnegie Mellon University SILS has given the administration until Dec. 1 to respond. The group said they hope the university will set a precedent by prioritizing ethical labor practices over corporate partnerships.
In the meantime, students continue to gather support, distributing an online petition and planning future events to keep the pressure on.
“I think in today’s climate it can be easy to just kind of throw your hands up and feel helpless against all the evil things going on in the world,” Beauchemin said.
“But I want people, especially young people, to understand that if enough of us organize and take initiative, we can make things better — and if we don’t like the way the world is right now, we can change it.”
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